Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Does your child seem exceptionally talented in some way? Today on Home School Heartbeat, Inge Cannon explains and compares methods for determining whether a child is gifted.

Mike Smith:
Inge, what does it mean to be gifted?


Inge Cannon:
We measure giftedness with IQ scores, and sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's not so good. But we have to have some measurement. If you test at 130 or above, you're considered gifted. This is about two people in every 100 people.


Mike:
Is it important for parents to make sure their children's IQ is tested?


Inge:
The only time you really need IQ tested is if you're going to participate in any gifted programs—the programs run by universities, by colleges, things like that—they're going to look for an "official diagnosis" of giftedness, and this will be one of the pieces in that package of official diagnosis.


Most people can figure out if children are gifted before they ever go for any kind of formal testing. They can observe early reading, for example, or an incredible aptitude for mathematics that makes a child ready for algebra I at 9 years of age. Or just tremendous curiosity about maybe one topic, like dinosaurs, and "I want to know everything there is to know about this topic and I'm willing to exhaust all the research that's out there." And so you begin to see behaviors that show you those indicators and then you're simply confirming that with the testing that you're doing.


Mike:
Thanks, Inge, that's very helpful. I'm Mike Smith.